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Forcing her attention away, she glanced down at the slim watch on her wrist. “Do you mind if I call after lunch?”
“Sure, no problem.”
Good. She honestly didn’t care one whit about a lost box of notepads, and she was antsy to search Carlisle’s office and didn’t want to waste a single minute. Besides, she had to clear her head and there was nothing like a good op to get your mind out of the gutter. Inda stood up, grabbing her purse and swinging it over her shoulder.
“Going out for lunch?” Lucas asked.
Oh, damn.Normally, she’d offer to grab him something next door, but time was of the essence today. “Actually, I have some errands to run.”
He studied her a little too intently, but Inda held his inquisitive gaze. Let herself momentarily swim in those twin glacial pools.
Before he could say anything, she gave him a perky smile with what she hoped was an upbeat, “See you in an hour,” then turned on her heel and strode out the door.Sorry, Lucas. You can get your own lunch today.
Hurrying down to the elevator, Inda dug into her purse and removed the badge that would allow her access to Carlisle’s floor, courtesy of a little Banshee magic. When the door opened, she stepped into the empty cab, waved her All Access pass in front of the scanner and zoomed up another few floors. After a couple weeks of recon, Inda had discovered Carlisle’s executive assistant, Angelica, normally took her lunch with Jen, her office buddy, at this time. The two gossips were like clockwork, so Inda wasn’t surprised when she stepped off the elevator and the desk in front of Carlisle’s office was empty.
Looking natural, like she had every right to be there, she walked forward casting a surreptitious sweep over the office. It was quiet as she made her way to Angelica’s desk, slid the side drawer open and removed a set of keys. Making friends with the executive assistant definitely had its perks.
Keys in hand, she headed over to Carlisle’s office, unlocked the door and slipped inside. The lights were off, the blinds drawn on the glass partition between Carlisle’s office and Angelica’s desk, but the curtains on the windows that overlooked downtown San Francisco were wide open and provided plenty of light.
Inda stalked straight over to his desk and wasn’t surprised to see his laptop was gone. Well, there’d be no downloading any files today. So, instead, she focused her attention on his desk drawers. Setting the ring of keys down, she pulled the top one open and began to comb through the contents, searching for anything suspicious. Being methodical and thorough, yet moving fast, she worked her way through all the drawers then stood up straight and placed her hands on her hips, letting her gaze wander over the office.
Where should she look next? The built-in bookshelves snagged her attention and she zeroed in on a few framed pictures. One of them was the exact photo River had found in Benedict Salinger’s home office in New York.
Hmm.Inda walked over, picked it up and flipped it over. Then she popped the frame’s latches and opened it. Four names were neatly written on the back of the photograph—Benedict and Elizabeth Salinger and Chadwick and Mia Carlisle.
Mia.Well, now they knew who the mysterious fourth person was, and she appeared to be a relative. According to their research, Chadwick was divorced, but his ex’s name wasn’t Mia. There was a slight resemblance between Chadwick and Mia, and she looked to be in her early twenties, so Inda made the reasonable assumption that Mia was his daughter. She stayed extremely low-key, though, because this was the first time Inda heard anything about Carlisle having a kid.
Filing that intel away to share with her team later, Inda closed the frame and was just setting it back on the shelf when a deep voice made her freeze.
“What’re you doing in here? I thought you went to lunch?”
Shit.Spinning around, Inda met Lucas’ far too inquisitive look. Time to flip the conversation and neutralize the suspicion written all over his handsome face. And she needed to do it fast.
“I did,” she said easily. “I just wanted to thank Mr. Carlisle for helping me get the job here. But it looks like he’s out of town or something.”
The urge to escape filled her, but Lucas was blocking the doorway. God, she could barely see past his broad shoulders.
“I didn’t realize you knew Mr. Carlisle. Or that he’d helped you.”
His piercing gaze held her hostage, but she forced herself to breathe evenly and shrug a nonchalant shoulder. “That’s because I asked him not to tell anyone. We’re old family friends, but I didn’t want it getting around the office that the only reason I was hired was due to favoritism.”
Shit.She needed to change the subject quickly. He was asking far too many questions and she was going to run out of reasonable answers far too soon.
“Anyway, I was heading down to the Honeycomb Café. I can grab your usual, if you want.”
Instead of answering, he moved closer, and she automatically took a step back, her ass hitting the bookshelf. Normally if a man cornered her, she didn’t worry too much because she had the skills to defend herself. With Lucas, however, her mind wasn’t on fighting back, more like giving in. Suddenly, he was all up in her space and she did the only thing a red-blooded woman who hadn’t had sex in far too long could do. Swooned.
Her head tilted back and she briefly met his icy eyes. But the ice had all melted away and now an intense blue fire burned there instead. Attention dropping to his mouth, she swallowed hard. Damn, those lips of his looked divine, and she hadn’t been kissed in so…very…long.
“I think we should go out,” he murmured, voice low, silkier than his fancy tie her fingers were currently touching.
For a moment, she’d thought she was busted when he caught her in Carlisle’s office. But this was muchmore dangerous. Words eluded her, but her traitorous body responded in every way—her breath hitched, her pulse raced and her panties flooded.
“I didn’t think a boss and his assistant were allowed to date. Isn’t that breaking some sort of policy or something?” Her voice came out so breathy it was almost embarrassing.
“Every rule has an exception.” He lowered his head and she felt his warm breath fan across her skin. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
Their lips were mere inches apart and, at that moment, if it guaranteed a kiss from Lucas, Inda would have agreed that the sky was purple. Instead of answering, she pushed up onto the balls of her feet, tugging on his tie, and met his descending lips halfway.
